Video encoding standards, such as the H.264 ISO standard MPEG4 AVC, and the MPEG HEVC (High Efficiency Video Coding) standard, define many different operating modes. A video decoder designed to decode video compressed according to such a video encoding standard should generally be capable of correctly decoding video under all operating modes.
In order to permit a designer to rigorously test the design of a decoder during the development phase, it has been proposed to apply a test stream, i.e. a video stream compressed according to the relevant standard, to the decoder. The decompressed video output generated by the decoder is then compared with a reference video output that is known be the correct decompression of the test stream. The test stream should thoroughly cover the operating modes of the decoder that are to be tested.
Current solutions for generating test streams for a given encoding standard have drawbacks in terms of test coverage and/or the conception time. Indeed, the production of a test stream having a relatively complete test coverage is currently a slow process, leading to a relatively high time-to-market for video decoders based on new encoding standards.